Various types of apparatuses are known for loading one or more items into containers. The items may be any kind of thing or product that one wishes to place into a container. One such type of apparatus is generally known as a cartoner. Cartoners may include components that are used to form and/or erect a plurality of cartons and subsequently load one or more items into each of the cartons. Cartoners that are known generally as vertical cartoners are well known. Also well known are what are generally referred to as horizontal cartoners. The vertical/horizontal orientation designation of such cartoners generally reflects the orientation of the cartons at the time at which items are being loaded into the cartons. Horizontal cartoners are generally configured quite differently to vertical cartoners.
In a vertical cartoner, the cartons may be formed from flat blanks. The blanks may be transformed into cartons having upwardly facing openings using carton erecting machines, such as machines of a vertical die and plunger type. In general, a reciprocating vertical plunger may move in a vertical direction, and force a flat carton blank through a carton forming die. Components of the die, in whole or in part, may fold the side and end panels of the blank around the reciprocating plunger as the plunger passes downwardly through the die, and may erect the side end panels of the vertical carton such that the carton has an upwardly facing open end. The panels may be sealed with an adhesive and then the cartons may in turn be ejected from the carton former and transferred to a conveyor. The cartons with vertically upward oriented openings and with bottom panels sealed may thereafter be moved typically upon a separate conveyor, to an item loading station. At the item loading station, one or more items are loaded vertically (usually at least in part with the assistance of gravity) through the openings into the cartons. Once the items are loaded, the top panels may be sealed and the sealed carton is ready to be discharged from the loading system. Certain products, such as bottles, as well as loose products like cereal, rice, pasta, sugar, flour, cat litter, as well as products such as liquid filled bags, and garbage bags, are all well suited for vertical loading. Also, vertical cartoners have significant benefits during the item loading process including as indicated above, being able to make use of gravity. However, being able to form, orient and hold the carton during loading in a vertical orientation typically requires relatively complex equipment. As a result, vertical cartoners are often less desirable than horizontal cartoners. Nevertheless, vertical cartoners are still preferred or required in certain applications, such as where the items to be packaged do not lend themselves to being readily filled horizontally with a horizontal cartoner. Also, in vertical cartoners, the full circumference of the conveyor can be utilized whereas typically only the top section of a horizontal cartoner is utilized. Also, in vertical cartoners, an item retention device, such as a guide rail, may not be required once the carton has been loaded. Consequently, it may be simpler to fold and seal the flaps while the items to be packaged are already loaded in the carton as it is not necessary to accommodate an item retention device.
Horizontal cartoners, on the other hand, may be simpler compared to vertical cartoners in at least some aspects of their construction and/or operation and may be able to operate at higher rates. This is in part because horizontal cartoners may make use of a single continuously moving conveyor system for the movement of a carton during the erection, placement, loading, sealing and discharge steps. Horizontal cartoners may use cartons blanks that are generally supplied as a flattened blank but that may be folded over such that they form a flattened, generally tubular shape with a main longitudinal sealed seam along the length of the carton blank. Horizontal cartoners normally include a magazine holding a supply of such flattened tubular carton blanks, and an apparatus for retrieving a plurality of carton blanks in series from the magazine, erecting them into a generally tubular form, and then placing each carton in succession into a bucket carried on a bucket conveyor. Each bucket is configured in any number of different ways to hold a carton in the erected state. The carton conveyor will then move the bucket with the carton held therein to an item loading station where one or more items can be loaded. The carton erection and placement into a conveyor may generally be easier and faster than in vertical cartoners. However, as the items have to be loaded horizontally into horizontally oriented openings of each carton, the horizontal cartoner may in some applications need to employ a series of push members or other devices to push the items from a separate item carrying conveyor horizontally into the carton. Thus, while horizontal cartoners may have benefits in the way in which the cartons may be retrieved and erected and placed onto a conveyor for loading of items, the actual loading of certain types of items horizontally can pose challenges or be practically impossible.
There is thus a desire for an improved apparatus and method for vertically loading one or more items into a container such as a carton.